The present invention relates generally to providing power to drive an environmental control system (ECS) on a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to providing power to the ECS from a ground-based source.
When a vehicle such as an aircraft is parked at a gate during embarkation and/or disembarkation of passengers, the ECS may operate to maintain a comfortable cabin temperature. During such gate-parking time, the ECS is usually driven by pneumatic power provided by bleed air from a turbine engine such as an auxiliary power unit (APU) of the aircraft.
A typical APU is designed to minimize size and weight since it is carried with the aircraft through its full mission. Additionally it is powered from jet fuel. Consequently running the APU can be relatively expensive.
Many airports have ground-based electrical power sources that can be readily connected to an aircraft parked at a gate. While the ground-based power sources can bring energy into the parked aircraft for AC loads, a typical aircraft is not equipped to utilize this ground-based electrical power to drive the ECS. If an aircraft were so equipped, then fuel savings could result from diminished use of the APU.
As can be seen, there is a need for reducing use of fuel to drive an ECS when a vehicle is parked. More particularly, there is a need for a system to drive the ECS with minimum consumption of fuel in the APU turbine engine. Moreover, there is a need for a system that facilitates use of ground-based electrical power to supply power for the ECS when the vehicle is parked.